Worth The Wait
by Bumi the Non-Bender
Summary: Lin's late at work, once again, feeling awful over it. Bumi waits nearly all day for her return, but she's worth it.


Worth the Wait

Bumi had been waiting for Lin to return home for what had been hours. Bored beyond description, he'd had himself a whiskey while he read the paper. It was somewhat cold in the room, it was late fall and nearly winter, causing him to sigh. He stood up and prepared a fire in the fireplace, stacking the logs and lighting it, making sure the flame didn't go out before he went back to his seat. The paper was more of the same, slander against famous people and misreported stories plus a heap of gossip. The only thing he could even bear to read now was the sports page and the funnies, and he didn't even care for sports as well as his jokes were a thousand times better.

He read on about some pro-bending team going to finals that nobody had expected, a bunch of references to when the Fire Ferrets had gone. He got bored with it after they made the third claim of Korra playing on their team secretly dressed like a man. He finally moved on to the comic strips, reading a few and even chuckling at one. His whiskey was the only thing in the room that was any good, the wait for Lin taunting him as the wall clock ticked away.

Bumi finished his whiskey after a few minutes, the shrunken cubes of ice clanking as he swirled it around. He debated having another, thinking that it'd be nice, but would put him to sleep if he did. As it turned out, just the one was enough to do that considering how high he had filled it. The glass sat empty next to him, the ice sweating away into a little pool of its liquid self as he snored slightly.

Lin had been tasked with a mountain and a half of paperwork after a failed sting operation led to some major political backlash. The intel had been solid but it was executed poorly and that idiot Saikhan had botched the whole op. She was so close to firing him, but let it go. She told herself he'd get one final chance, and if he messed that up too, he was out. Lin realized too late she had promised Bumi she'd pick up dinner, and figured he probably had something without her. She felt horribly, she made him wait every day but rarely called to let him know. And the phone was _right there_ on her desk the entire time…

She felt like having a meltdown about it all but remained composed as she left the station a full three hours later than normal, which was a full two hours later than she should be leaving considering her rank. Even though he'd likely eaten, she picked up some take-out for herself as well as him. Extra meat and extra crab rangoon to make a small gesture of repayment for his wait. Lin pulled her car over next to their residence and stepped out, the food in her hands. When she got to the door she bent the key from her pocket and into the lock.

She entered and found it quiet, not un-normal for when she was late. Either he was incredibly upset or asleep, or possibly both. When she rounded the corner, she found him asleep with an empty glass next to him and a paper on the floor. A small smile crept onto her face as she walked slowly to set the food on the countertop. She walked over after having set it down and leaned over to kiss his forehead, whispering "Bumi? Sorry I'm so late… Did you eat?". Her hand was on his shoulder, lightly nudging him awake before she had spoke.

He looked up at her with sleep-filled eyes and blinked slowly, "N-no, I didn't…" he yawned, "I missed you…" Bumi's hand went to the back of her neck and pulled her close for a tender kiss. She smiled slightly at it, thankful he wasn't upset about it.

When the kiss broke she looked at him, "Missed you too… I got dinner for us, if you're hungry, that is." He nodded and stood, snagging his empty glass as he walked with her. He set it in the sink, covering another yawn. Lin set the table and grabbed the food, still trying to make up for being late by having him do nothing. He put a little water in his glass and dumped it into the sink to be washed later before he sat at the table.

He could smell the food he loved, from that little shop on 7th a few blocks away, even before the bag was opened. They both took a fair portion of everything before eating, Bumi not taking his eyes off Lin. He'd waited all day for her, he didn't need to be staring at a plate instead. She looked exhausted, her eyes were droopy and she moved slowly while she ate. Eventually she noticed his staring and gave a small smile.

"What is it? Did I spill on myself or something?" she looked down to make sure there wasn't any mustard on her to Bumi's amusement. She looked back up, slightly confused.

"No… I just miss you when you're gone all day… I love you."

Lin set her utensils down and looked back, "I love you too, Bumi… And I'm sorry about being so late, it was just that Siak-"

"Bup! Bupbupbup! You get enough work at work, you don't need to bring it home too. Don't worry about it. Really, it's ok." he smiled softly before taking another bite of food.

"But you had to wait so long for me, I should have called." she smirked, mad at herself over it all.

"Lin? You're worth the wait. Whether it's an hour or a day or a week, I'll always be here waiting for you." Bumi smiled once more, Lin not knowing what to respond to that with. He put her at a loss for words quite a few times, and some of those times – like now – there was a lump in her throat of emotion over it. She started eating again, slowly, trying to think of words.

She never thought of what was right to say, the things in her mind sounding childish or half-formed. She wasn't content with just taking his words and not giving anything back, it seemed unfair of her to be complimented and, really, praised by him all the time and all she could ever think to say in return was 'thanks' or 'I love you'. It wasn't enough in her eyes. When he was finished, she was full enough at the time anyway, she stood and walked over to him. She wrapped her arms around him in a hug, something even with him wasn't very common – even with them being married.

He held her close as they embraced, the display of affection touching his heart. She kissed his cheek and smiled, letting her head rest on his shoulder, a hand coming up to play with his hair. She twirled it around a finger, the sensation tickling Bumi somewhat. He smiled, his arms still holding her. Lin kissed him again softly, not letting the kiss linger too long.

"No Bumi… _you're_ worth the wait."


End file.
